Saturday, August 20, 2011

It's a new multiplex. Although he is in the middle of a row, there is ample elbow room and leg space. The seat smells new, and does not curve his back in. The screen could be a little further, but it's not a big deal.

The lights go down and a trailer begins - a movie (starring Evangeline Lilly) about 2000-pound boxing robots. It looks incredibly interesting. The girl next to him declares, "I am so going to watch that!". He wants to squeal, "Me too!" but his movie has started. He settles in and gets ready.

After 7 books and 8 movies, he feels such an intense familiarity with the characters. He knows what will happen at every step, why it will happen and to whom, but still he is ready to cheer and tear when the moment arrives. When Dobby's headstone is shown, when Snape's tragic love is revealed, when Harry has to make the hard choice that every hero has to, when Remus and Tonks are shown, when Neville steps to the plate,...

Some epic moments from the movie will stay in his mind for a long time too. Moments that were not in the book, but so adorned the movie: When the dragon soars, when the stone warriors prepare for battle, and when the dementors are shown outside Hogwarts - drifting, waiting, waiting...

What a great movie. To him, he watched it in the most ideal state of mind. The memory of watching it this time, this way, of closing his ties with the Magic world, will forever be perfect.